Northamptonshire skipper David Ripley hit a stubborn, unbeaten half-century to deny Kent a last day win and throw his side a relegation lifeline after drawing this their penultimate CricInfo Championship match of the season.

Set to chase an unlikely last day target of 328 from a minimum 68 overs, Northamptonshire looked all but doomed when going into tea on 107 for seven.

Ben Trott and Martin Saggers having claimed three wickets apiece and Min Patel one, it appeared a foregone conclusion that Kent would close their fifth win of the campaign to all but condemn Northamptonshire to the drop.

But Ripley teamed up with his most experienced player Paul Taylor to frustrate the hosts for 29 overs in adding a crucial 49 for the eighth wicket with Taylor contributing 11 from 79 deliveries.

Andrew Symonds finally broke the stand with a flatter, quicker ball that trapped Taylor plum in front leg before to make it 145 for eight.

With a possible 20 overs to go, Ripley then joined forces with left-hander Michael Strong who followed Taylor's lead with a highly responsible knock of 20 from 45 balls as he and Ripley added a further 52 in 19 overs until Strong fell to the first ball of the final over of the game.

Symonds was again the wicket-taker, causing the tail-ender to topple over in the crease to another arm ball allowing Paul Nixon to complete a smart stumping.

That brought in last man John Blain, who safely played down two deliveries before leaving Ripley to face the last two and finish unbeaten with 62 in a shade over two hours when umpires George Sharp and Nigel Cowley pulled the stumps to declare the draw.

Northamptonshire's haul of 11 points gives them an outside chance of survival should they win their final match of the summer, but the draw all but ruins Kent's hopes of snatching the £50,000 runner's up cheque from Somerset's grasp.

© CricInfo